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Category Archives: Jones Lang LaSalle

Welcome to Episode 13.5 of Real Time, JLL Chicago’s industrial podcast. In this episode, the team previews the Chicago market’s first quarter industrial statistics, breaking down everything from vacancy and absorption to investment sales and construction deliveries. The highlights:

Existing occupiers like Home Depot, Clorox, RJW and Uline are expanding around the market

Blackstone and High Street grow their holdings through portfolio acquisitions.

Mid-range leasing velocity is robust, with 21 new leases between 100,000 and 500,000 square feet in the first quarter

Take notice of the two business park developments near O’Hare, a trend more typical of suburban greenfield markets

Keep your eyes peeled for a detailed submarket report in the coming weeks!

Just six months after acquiring the 1970s-style Class B property at 222 South Riverside Plaza in 2014, ownership kicked off a transformational renovation with the close involvement of JLL’s agency leasing, project management and property management teams. The project has already experienced tremendous success and is poised to add value to ownership’s investment long after its 2017 completion.

Click below for our Project Profile on 222 South Riverside Plaza. The West Loop tower’s $50 million renovation was featured in the Chicago Tribune and continues to make a major impact on tenant renewals and rental rates.

In a strategic re-use of formerly obsolete space, the team chose the back of the lobby for the new tenant lounge, as the former ground-level retail was not a desirable location for a tenant. The multi-disciplinary JLL team played an integral role in shaping plans and facilitating efficient, clear communication around the specs and schedule of construction.… Read More

If you think today’s healthcare system feels like an unsolvable Rubik’s Cube, you’re not alone. But it didn’t develop in a vacuum, and it’s important to understand historical context. Explore a timeline of our journey toward value-based healthcare below, where you can roll over the red buttons for details on major legislative, social and cultural milestones.… Read More

Since the American Academy of Pediatrics’ headquarters opened more than 30 years ago, the organization has experienced unprecedented growth. Membership has grown by more than 250 percent to 66,000 members, and total staff has increased from 125 to 455 people. AAP tapped JLL in early 2014 to craft a strategic real estate plan for its new “headquarters of the future.”

Click below for our Project Profile on AAP, an organization committed to the optimal physical, mental and social health and wellbeing for all infants, children, adolescents and young adults.

We explored expansion and restacking AAP’s existing Elk Grove Village building, purchase of a new building and a ground-up build-to-suit. After touring downtown and suburban sites, it became clear that a build-to-suit was the best choice for AAP’s unique needs. Hamilton Lakes Business Park in Itasca offered proximity to AAP’s valued employee base and future expandability.

As owner’s rep, we facilitated the acquisition of the land site, due diligence and entitlements, as well as the hiring of all project partners. The team worked through the approval process with the Village of Itasca regarding site layouts and engineering, traffic impact and local intersection improvements to help traffic flow.… Read More

Welcome to Episode 13 of Real Time, JLL Chicago’s industrial podcast. In the second half of this two-part episode, the team chats with mHUB CEO Haven Allen about Chicago’s local manufacturing ecosystem. With 14,000 establishments already employing more than 400,000 people, there’s opportunity everywhere. We explore how mHUB and its partners are:

Building a community of manufacturing innovation talent

Providing those people with opportunities to grow their ideas with local resources

Creating the conditions for product innovators to survive and thrive in this industrial revolution

Sparking industry collaboration that accelerates the introduction of sustainable new product businesses

“On any given day, about one in 25 hospital patients has at least one healthcare-associated infection,” said JLL Director of Healthcare Technical Operations George Mills. “By taking a proactive approach to compliance, health systems can reduce overall risk in hospital environments.”

George joined JLL last year after serving as Director of the Department of Engineering at The Joint Commission. By exploring the intersection of clinical needs and the physical environment, he’s demonstrating the need for health systems to turn a critical eye to their operational efficiency and outcomes.

Stark Law

For services paid for by Medicare, Medicaid or other state healthcare plans, Stark prevents physician self-referral and patient referral to entities with which the physician has a financial interest or relationship.

Anti-Kickback Statute

Prohibits kickbacks, bribes, rewards and other economic incentives that induce physicians to refer patients for services or recommend purchase of medical supplies that are reimbursable under government-funded healthcare programs.… Read More

If record attendance at the National Multifamily Housing Council’sAnnual Meeting was any indication, the multifamily asset class is more desired than it has been in decades and fundamentals are strong. Rates and supply concerns aside, there are some simple truths to the industry. Our growing population, from Millennials to Boomers, has a growing preference toward renting, whether that’s due to student debt or being burned during the last downturn.

Here are some key takeaways formulated on the hustle between the Waldorf and Hilton towers:

Blurred lines: Core-plus is the new value-add

After two flaming-hot years, value-add has become so overheated that investors are looking at core-plus deals, where a newer vintage with less work means a measurable pop in yield. Equity capital chasing these deals are allocating larger percentages of their funds for acquiring multifamily.

Why are these typically conservative owners taking a harder look at older product (even eight-foot ceilings?!) in secondary and tertiary markets? The ongoing need for workforce housing. A huge mass of renters will never be able to pay luxury, Class-A rents, and you can’t build affordable housing with today’s soaring construction costs.… Read More

Welcome to Episode 12 of Real Time, JLL Chicago’s industrial podcast. In the first half of this two-part episode, the team learns more about mHUB, Chicago’s first innovation center for physical product development and manufacturing. As mHUB approaches its one-year anniversary celebration in March, CEO Haven Allen reflects on:

While unlimited soup, salad and breadsticks is a universal truth at any Olive Garden, an unlimited supply of engineers is not a guarantee in a hot tech market like Silicon Valley. That’s why the most agile and bottom-line-minded tech firms have turned to Chicago to find their next tech talent, whether their need is a half dozen or several hundred of the best and brightest.

“We want to tap into the Chicago market. We’re excited about the tech talent there—the new grads, people returning home because it’s such a livable city,” Foursquare senior vice president of engineering Matt Kamen recently told Crain’s Chicago Business.

While Foursquare is starting to hire just a half-dozen engineers locally, enterprise demand for its location data underscores a high-growth and more diversified future for the New York-based business. Foursquare looked at other up-and-coming markets, from Toronto to Austin, but we can guess one big reason Chicago won—tempered wage growth.… Read More

Welcome to Episode 11.5 of Real Time, JLL Chicago’s industrial podcast. In this episode, the team previews the Chicago market’s fourth quarter industrial statistics, breaking down everything from vacancy and absorption to investment sales and construction deliveries. The highlights:

Q4 saw 9 million square feet of absorption, accounting for ALMOST HALF of 2017’s 18.9 million square feet of absorption

In a marquee year for development, we saw 26 million square feet in construction deliveries, including four million-square-footers!

Vacancy inched back down to 7.25 percent

Investors’ insatiable appetite for industrial assets continues to grow, leading to 47 million square feet of investment sales in 2017

Keep your eyes peeled for a detailed submarket report in the coming weeks!

Welcome to Episode 11 of Real Time, JLL Chicago’s industrial podcast. For all you ESPN fans out there, this special end-of-year episode is going to be just like Pardon the Interruption. Hot topics, high stakes time limits and one loud buzzer when our pros have to drop the mic. Check out our rapid-fire topics:

The cost of infill development

The Foxconn effect

National investors are here and they’re hungry

Transit and logistics New Year’s Resolutions

Hosted by: Special guest and captain of the JLL Chicago Industrial team, John Picchiotti

When it comes to sustainability, companies and landlords need to start thinking outside of the ‘green’ box in order to attract new occupiers in a tightening market. After all, sustainability isn’t just about the environment anymore. It’s also about health and wellness, which is why more and more building owners are looking to add amenities such as fitness centers, bike racks and showers within their facilities, as well as to integrate health and wellness measures into the design of their buildings. However, landlords need to be thoughtful about how they tackle the demand for building amenities, as the added electricity alone can greatly increase the budget, with electrical making up nearly a third of total renovation cost.

There are many pros to adding wellness focused amenities within your building, whether included in ground up construction or through renovation:… Read More

Donna Mondi had a vision for her 16-year-old interior design firm—a new office and showroom that would bring her team under one roof and reflect their design sensibilities and expert capabilities. Her unexpected inspiration? The industrial chic office set from The Intern, a 2015 comedy starring Robert De Niro and Anne Hathaway.

Click below for our Project Profile on Donna Mondi Interior Design, creator of spaces that are edgy yet sophisticated, modern yet classic, sexy, dynamic and most of all— unpredictable.

It wasn’t in River North, where Donna originally wanted to be, and there was no Starbucks in sight (a necessity for Donna and her team). We encouraged Donna and her husband Dominick Mondi, President of Mesirow Financial, to take a look. They took a tour and fell in love. It wasn’t the center of Fulton Market, but it checked every other box.

Knowing the Mondis’ interest in acquiring an income-producing, value-add property, we quickly facilitated the sale for $1.8 million (fortuitously closing the day of the Cubs’ 2016 World Series win). Built in the 1890s, the West Town light- industrial building was a former furniture factory. Donna invested $350,000 to convert the first floor into her company’s new home. The second floor will soon become available for the first time in 20 years, allowing for additional income generation. The space is perfect for a creative tenant craving high ceilings, hardwood floors, original skylights and huge windows.

Welcome to Episode 10 of Real Time, JLL Chicago’s industrial podcast. In this episode, the team prepares for Black Friday and Cyber Monday by exploring the intersection of retail, e-commerce and industrial logistics. Get your shopping lists ready and check out the highlights:

The suburban office market is changing in response to two notable trends. While many corporate users have vacated their longtime campuses for the allure of the live/work/play life downtown, others are recommitting to the suburbs and collaborating with creative landlords.

When office park innovator BECO Management acquired the former Motorola Mobility campus in Libertyville in 2014, it fused both trends, creating an urban environment within a suburban landscape. After buying at a low basis and kicking off a large-scale redevelopment, the D.C.-based investor recently chose JLL to market Innovation Park, Lake County.

BECO built it, and we’re making sure they come. As dozens of brokers tour the property each month, the most common reaction is “I had no idea.” With services from meals to daycare and fitness to laundry, employees never have to leave. The productivity implications are profound. Nowhere else can your day include an on-site massage, team bonding in the game room and soaking up sun on the bike path. We’re telling a singular story, and two major tenants have already signed on: Valent Biosciences (98,000 s.f.) and Brightstar (65,000 s.f.).

In a market as large as suburban Chicago, getting to work can be around the corner or a major undertaking. Our Research team recently completed a suburban SWOT analysis, determining the top three modes of transportation used to get to the office in each submarket. Roll over each submarket below for the details.

Strength: Public transit

Public transportation, from the L to the Metra, has been a boon to several… Read More

As the nature of work continues to change dramatically, the technology available to us, services we offer our employees and the spaces we create are evolving as well. A focus on experiences is driving the future of workplace culture, which was the topic of conversation last week at the Schaumburg Business Association’s Commercial Real Estate Summit – The Future of Work.

Our own Senior Vice President Mark Kolar and National Workplace Consulting lead Ed Nolanhosted a panel of workplace experts from both established and rapidly growing buzzworthy brands: Google HR Business Manager JackySchiestel; Paylocity VP of Human Resources Jay Schedler; ABT Electronics Co-President Mike Abt; and Andigo COO JeanTheis. Enjoy their culture commandments as inspiration to make bold changes in your own workplace.

Just say yes

ABT doesn’t have an employee manual, but for more than 80 years and three generations, the founding family has been instilling a culture of “yes.” Employees quickly learn to take on any reasonable request from a customer, which infuses the store with positive energy and optimism.… Read More

More classes are in session than ever in Chicago. The share of Chicagoans over age 25 with bachelor’s degrees or higher leapt from 29.3 percent in 2006 to 36.4 percent last year, with the sharpest increase starting in 2011. That share is significantly higher in the CBD, with nearly 80 percent of the population holding undergraduate and graduate degrees.

Chicago’s hike was larger than any of the country’s four other most populous cities—New York, Los Angeles, Houston and Philadelphia—and more than twice the 4.3 percent national increase.

Let’s look at some major demographic forces at play in the development of the CBD’s well-educated, diverse and skilled labor force.… Read More

Representatives from Canada, Mexico and the U.S. recently entered into the fourth round of negotiations on the North American Free Trade Agreement. While interests are wide-ranging and competing, the major focus has been on “rules of origin,” which look at the location breakdown of where products are manufactured to determine trade statistics, procurement and preferential treatment.

As negotiations continue, the State of Illinois, its economy and its real estate could be affected in good, bad and surprising ways:

The singularity is near

While some argue that the U.S. has lost 350,000 manufacturing jobs since 1994 due to trade with Mexico, others note this decline started well before NAFTA began. Tracking employment against manufacturing output is the most telling, as we’re seeing a sharp increase in productivity, despite fewer jobs. The answer: Robots and automation are making U.S. manufacturing more efficient. It’s not “Westworld,” but maybe it’s not far off..

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JLL's Chicago blog offers expert insight on news and trends for owners, investors and tenants of commercial real estate. Learn more about our services and our professionals to see how they’ve helped clients throughout the Chicago area with their commercial real estate needs.

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